Vile, Abusive Twitter Threats Hurled at Alexandra Burke

Alexandra Burke performs during the "Michael Forever" tribute concert, which honours late pop icon Michael Jackson, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales October 8, 2011.REUTERS

British R&B singer, Alexandra Burke is the new victim of internet abuse and twitter trolls as the 23-year old received a string of vile, abusive messages after she announced that she'd hold a night celebrating the launch of her Lip Booms gloss lipsticks.

The messages made the singer so nervous that she decided to contact the police and seek help.

The abusive hurls started when the Twitter user allegedly threatened to kill the singer. The abuses continued with the web menace telling her that he will stab her and throw brick at her.

"She immediately contacted Twitter to request the user be blocked and asked for the account to be removed. Her own team weren't taking any chances. Her management decided to draft in extra security to be by her side all night. It could have been nothing more than a disgusting bluff but no one was willing to take any chances after Leona Lewis was attacked a few years ago. Every threat has to be taken seriously - if something happened, Alex's team would never forgive themselves," the source further added.

There has been a rapid rise in twitter and internet abuse with celebrities being a prime aim for such vile attacks.

Serious questions are being raised about such forms of internet abuse with many celebrities even abandoning the popular social media platform.

In March, comedian Matt Lucas told his 565,000 followers on the site that he was leaving it for good. The Little Britain star deleted his account after a 16-year-old tweeted a sick joke about the death of Lucas's former partner, Kevin McGee, who was discovered hanged in 2009.

Indeed, so many celebrities are now abandoning the network that a new term, 'Twitter Quitters', has been coined to describe them.

Despite this, what is written by Twitter members is almost completely unpoliced. As a consequence, the area has become a magnet for numerous twitter trolls who continuously "spew out their venom" without any kind of fear.